Update [May 04, 2017]: We reported in March that Nova Launcher was testing dynamic notifications for its Beta users. We are happy to inform you that dynamic notification badges are out of Beta and available in the stable version of 5.1.

In case you are wondering, dynamic notification badges replace the standard “count” badges with the activity involved in the notification. Meaning, if you get a mail from XYZ, dynamic badge will display the profile picture of XYZ as a notification badge instead of showing the count. This helps in identifying the notifications without opening the app.

However, if you prefer standard count badges, you can turn dynamic badges off in the settings. Also, it’s important to mention here that this feature is only for Prime users as Nova launcher supports notification badges for only Prime users.